Fast forward about 5 years and that brings me to White Lotus Tattoo in Toms River, New Jersey.  Prior to stepping foot in the shop, I talked to my homie Brian DiCola about the idea.  It was a flashback to the past because five years ago, when I worked with Brian, I told him he would be the first person to ever lay ink on me.  Up until this point, I’ve never even been inside a tattoo shop, so this was an entirely new experience for me.  I thought I was going to walk in and be surrounded by gang members, bad asses, and people making fun of me because I had no tattoos or because I wanted a simple lips tattoo.  However that wasn’t the case at White Lotus.  Immediately upon arrival, we were welcomed with open arms and got right to our ink session.

The first thing that caught my eye was the line of skateboard decks they had hanging up. My attention then turned to the hundreds of statues and collectible pieces ranging from original paintings to figurines that were for sale, to tiny figurines throughout the shop which makes sense since White Lotus also doubles as an art gallery.  The deal was that if SoGood model Lexi Anne got SoGood tattooed on her lip I would get HowGood, so in a way I suckered myself into it.

So after getting our tattoos, the guys at White Lotus allowed us to hang out for a bit while we finished getting our tour of the shop.  We enjoyed the hospitality that you don’t often find in tattoo shops, talked about future tattoo ideas, and went on our way.  It’s funny how something so small, like a catch phrase I started saying when I was 13, could have such a big impact on your life, and end up on your lip! HOWGOOD?

If anyone in the area is looking to get some work done I would definitely recommend checking out White Lotus Tattoo and liking them on Facebook.

Special thanks to Brian DiCola for doing the work and to the owners of White Lotus, Desmond Mooney & Doug DeSilva for letting us shoot in the shop and hang out after hours.

Check out the rest of the gallery from the SoGood tattoo session at White Lotus Tattoo in Toms River, New Jersey.

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Over the course of the next couple years I would see this car time to time. Fast forward another year and my love for BMWs had already grown exponentially. At this time I joined bimmerforums to learn and share my newly found hobby. Another year goes by and I’m finally old enough to drive. I kept telling my parents my first car was going to be a BMW and they absolutely would not have it, let alone an M3. So what did I do? I saved. And saved. After driving my grandmas 1987 Honda Civic through the first half of my senior year of high school I finally found an M3 in my price range. I somehow convinced my parents to let me buy it, and bought my first e36 M3 for $6800. It was a flood titled car from New York. It was avus blue, and in awesome shape mechanically, but cosmetically needed work.

I had kept skateboarding throughout the years and became close with everyone who worked at the local skate shop. They had a mini-ramp in the shop and I’d go after school almost everyday to skate it. There was always a couple older dudes that rippped and one of them always drove a white work van to the shop. After lurking the forums for awhile I came across a post from a user who was located in Sparta, NJ and had a white work van and a 1995 M3 listed under his cars. I put two and two together and the next time I was at the shop I asked him if he drove an M3. He said yes so we started to bullshit about cars for awhile.

Just before my 18th birthday I was stuck in a torrential downpour and lost traction of my M3, over corrected and sent the car into an embankment on the side of the road. The car was totalled. Brian, the guy who drove the white work van heard that I totalled the car. He recently had a kid and had to put his M3 up for sale and gave me first dibs. I drove the car three times before purchasing it. I fell in love with the car instantly.

The car started to reflect who I was as a person and eventually the car became not only part of my life, but my life. It’s a relationship that only the true automotive enthusiast will understand. People I knew and even people I didn’t know started to recognize the car and it quickly gained a reputation in the local BMW community and the online community as well. Because of this I have met so many people and some of which (actually many) have become very close friends. It wasn’t until owning the car for a few years that I realized this was the car I used to see at that skatepark. This was the car that I saw almost everyday, the one I idolized and hoped one day I could own. This was the car that would change my life.

My username on the Bimmerforums and other online BMW forums is “sogood.” It’s a phrase I started saying when I was younger when I would skateboard. When all of my friends were old enough to get cars we made sogood stickers for our cars. From all the exposure from local car shows and posting pictures online people started to take notice and we have since sold hundreds of thousands of these stickers world wide. The sticker became so popular that people started to print their own and sell them on ebay, Bimmerforums, and other BMW related forums.

One person that was introduced to me by my car is Eric Penelow, or better known on Bimmerforums as eurobeem. We knew each other for the better part of the past five years but it wasn’t until about two years ago that we started to become close friends. Eric became intrigued by the sogood stickers and how popular they had become. In 2011 it was decided that him and I would start a clothing company and appropriately name it SoGood, which has been our main focus (while still working our 9-5′s) ever since.

At some point in this mix (about three years ago) I purchased an imola red e46 M3. I love the car and still own it, but for some reason I just could not connect to the car the way I did with the e36. Maybe after I build the car this winter I will love it the way I loved the e36.

And that’s where I stand today. I just had to say goodbye to the single greatest thing that has ever been a part of my life. It had such a huge influence on me as a person and shaped who I am today, introduced me to some of my closest friends and is even responsible for the birth of a clothing company. I told you this was the car that was going to change my life and it did just that. I will always feel connected to this car in a way that I can’t explain, but most of you reading this will understand. Sure at some points it was a love–hate relationship, but what relationship isn’t just that? I will always have a certain passion not just for BMW, but for the e36 in particular. This car became my hobby, which quickly became a passion,and eventually an obsession. My ex–girlfriend always said I loved my car more than her and after reading this I’ll let you be the judge.

-Chris Katana

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The crowd arrived early to reserve their spot in line—a wise move considering by noon it was already 3–blocks long with a 5–hour wait to get in. Braving the 100° heat and lugging duffel bags, boxes and hand-trucks stacked with shoes just to wait for that long is brutal, but that just goes to show the passion for the scene. I guess after camping out for a week to get a pair of Yeezy’s a 5–hour wait isn’t so bad. The event was sponsored by Adidas, who had a handful of shoes on display, including originals by Jeremy Scott. Awesome to see Adidas getting involved and supporting the culture.

We couldn’t have asked for a better booth assignment considering it was positioned right in front of the Adidas display. After setting up we were able to check out the other vendors. Most vendors were clothing companies, but there were also sneaker shops and sock companies. Streetwear clothing brands and the sneaker scene are closely related due to the fact that they’ve been complimenting each other since day one. It was great being able to check out other companies’ ideas, designs and brand as a whole. From someone who’s passionate about the streetwear scene it’s always awesome to hear another company’s story.

Around noon Sneaker Con opened its doors letting people in and soon the gymnasium flooded with sneaker-heads. It’s amazing how well rounded the sneaker scene has become. Guy or girl, young or old, if you’re into shoes well, you’re into shoes. It’s incredible how marketing and social media reach the younger generations. When I was ten years old I wore Airwalks from JCPenney that were on sale for thirty bucks—not a $220 pair of Foamposits. Soon people were walking around holding shoes up in the air yelling out sizes and prices and for those that had too many shoes to carry found a chair to claim for the day.

Being in the city we wanted to rock–out and Four Loko was the weapon of choice—some got a little more loco than the others. The NYC sneaker scene was in full force and it was great to have met a lot of cool people and brands. If you didn’t make it out this year you should be regretting it so take our advice when we say go next year because it was SoGood!

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